The use of electronic equipment to perform various tasks, manage data, and provide communication is becoming more and more prevalent in daily life. For example, the military and private industry often desire/require rugged mobile electronic communication equipment that is easy to set-up and use in the field, able to withstand harsh operating environments, such as extreme temperatures and dusty conditions, and is inexpensive to produce and maintain.
In order to keep production and maintenance costs low, it is often desirable to build the electronic equipment using off-the-shelf electronic modules. For example, development cost can be reduced or eliminated by integrating existing computer modules, power supply modules, and/or telecommunication modules in an electronic system.
A problem with using off-the-shelf modules is that they are often designed for use in fairly benign operating environments, such as homes or office buildings. Accordingly, many of the modules are not well suited for harsh operating environments. For example, an electronic module may not be designed to operate above an elevated ambient operating temperature.
The maximum rated operating internal temperature of the module is often a function of the amount of heat produced by the various electronic components inside the module during operation, the maximum operating core temperature limits of those components, and the amount of heat expected to be removed from the module during operation at the maximum rated operating ambient air temperature (e.g., the amount of heat expected to be removed by a built-in cooling fan inside the module). For example, if the ambient air temperature rises above the maximum rated operating ambient temperature for the module, at least one of the electronic components inside the module is likely to reach a core temperature above the maximum operating temperature for the corresponding electronic component(s). In some cases, this elevated temperature can reduce the operating life of the module or cause the module to fail. Even if the individual maximum operating core temperature limits of the electronic components inside the module are high, the maximum ambient internal operating temperature of the module may be fairly low because only a small amount of heat is expected to be removed from the module during operation.
Similarly, an electronic module may not be designed to operate in dusty conditions. Electronic modules used in homes and office buildings are generally not exposed to high dust-content environments. When these modules are exposed to dusty conditions, the dust can affect the operation of the module, as well as the module cooling. Accordingly, off-the-shelf components are often not well suited for dusty operating environments.